Mini driver tee height

[bjh1]

Mini driver users - in terms of tee height and angle of attack, do you play it like a driver or like a fairway wood?

I’ve tried both and keep wavering back and forth.  

[Saijin]

I'm by no means a mini driver player, I use a full driver or a 2 wood.

 

just to share my personal stuff, 2/3 below the crown for a lower shot, 1/2 on the crown for my normal shot and 2/3 above the crown if I need a higher lift that lands softer.

I do this with both driver and fairway wood.

Angle of attack for me is usually even ish or slightly down unless I tee it up 2/3 above the crown then I hit up. Also depends on where I place the ball

[MizfanboyMP18]

I tee mine lower for sure I'm prone to popping it up if I get to high on my tee height

[Lt.Joyce]

I'm teeing up about 1 1/8" - 1 1/4" with ball position about a ball width back from where I would play driver. I dialed into that height using foot spray on the face and looking at how high/low I was catching the ball.  For reference I'm using the AI smoke mini which is the biggest head of the mini's on the market I believe.

[ARSM1932]

The tee height for mini drivers should be much lower than with driver and only slightly higher than with a 3 wood while the AoA should also be slightly down again just like a 3 wood, I experimented with several tee heights last year and it became obvious that a much lower tee height is the way to go especially since it really improves accuracy, a Challenge Tour player confirmed this and he told me that he is shocked by how many golfers including well known YouTubers there are who always tee the ball up high and hit up on the ball with mini driver as though they are hitting driver then they proceed to spray the ball everywhere and they wonder why they cannot hit a fairway.

[ctonr]

I tee it a little higher than 3 wood and hit with slight descending angle same as i do with a 3 wood.  Teed up higher than 1" doesn't work well for me.

[Kyfra]

3 wood height for me as well

[BTee]

Using Elyte mini so bigger head, but I tee it with top of ball same height as top of mini head. I also try to hit down slightly and “cover” the ball to hit a fade (opposite shot shape of full driver). 

[Josh H]

GT280 - took a lot of playing about but typically 1/3 of the ball above the crown but I've gotten very reliable and accurate at almost a full ball above crown for high long shots which creep it to almost driver distance carry around 15yds short.

 

I think it's one of those things you need to play about to find what suits your swing and delivery, I feel I attack the ball in a hybrid driver/fairway swing I've developed for it. 

 

My swing is likely crap though, so take it with a pinch of salt! 

[stratgolf]

I tee it like a low driver - not quite fairway wood height but nowhere near as high as D.

[Lasorcier]

I use the blue PTS tees.  Professional tee system or something like that.  I tee the driver on the blue stripe and the mini driver about a half inch shorter.  I like those tees for their consistent height stripe thing.  Slightly upward AofA.

[Scootre]

I use a 3 1/4" tee slightly in the ground for a standard driver. Slightly up on the strike. 

 

Use a standard height tee (2 1/8"??) with my 13.5* 340 Ti mini. Try to strike it level or slightly downwards. Basically teeing it barely higher than I would for a 3 wood. 

Favorite club in the bag. 

[glowchoy]

Teed slightly higher than a fairway wood and position and swing like a fairway wood with my GT280.  If the ball creeps forward and higher on the tee I'm definitely prone to losing accuracy and strike quality, which to be fair is my problem tendency with driver as well.

[GoldenEagle69]

This is personal  preference, I use different tee heights for different shots.

 

My standard shot I tee it where half the ball is above the club swing slightly up on the ball to level. 

 

If I'm hitting up and launching it like a driver I put 3/4 of the ball above the club head.

 

Depends on the shot you're making. I'm not teeing it low, as the sweetspot is center to high slightly toe side of the club face.

 

 

[Mr.Peabody]

Let me be clear.  I have never had tea at any height with Minnie Driver. LOL

 

Okay, with that out of the way I will say that my tee height with regular driver is lower than most.  The top of the ball is at/slightly below the top of the crown of the club.  My version of "tee'ing it high" is allowing a portion of the ball to peak above the crown.  

 

I have 2 mini drivers...the R7 at 11.5 and the BRNR at 13.5.  When I started using the BRNR, my intent was to tee the ball the same way that I do my driver.  My dad quickly noticed that I was hitting the mini better off the deck than off the tee.  That's when I started tee'ing it lower and saw better results.  A normal tee height now is in the middle of the club face or slightly lower.  I don't swing it like a driver.  I swing it like a fairway off the deck.

[mootrail]

19 hours ago, Mr.Peabody said:

I don't swing it like a driver.  I swing it like a fairway off the deck.

Exactly.  The lower tee height forces you to shallow out your AOA and not swing up at the ball.  Although I do tee it up a bit to hit a fade, I tee it down to hit a draw.

 

I played my Smoke Mini a ton, got my driver mojo back and have been using driver pretty much only.  I just picked up the Elyte Mini for fun and was hitting it horribly.  I finally realized, I was teeing the ball too high and swinging up like a driver.  Tee'd it lower, a bit back in my stance and covered the ball.  Easy.

[BogeyTed]

On 7/17/2025 at 4:56 PM, Saijin said:

I'm by no means a mini driver player, I use a full driver or a 2 wood.

[1puttTUT]

About 1.5" and a couple balls inside my front foot.

 

For reference, I play driver off my front big toe.

[Northsider]

A bit higher than a 3 wood. Teeing it low produced a lower ball w/ less distance. Teeing it high made the MD come alive.

[Eren]

I play my mini teed way down like a 3wood. Have bottom of ball maybe half inch above the turf and hit it with a sweeping motion. Sometimes I’ll hit a little down on it. 
 

easy to tee up and hit up on it like a normal driver but I prefer the penetrating ball flight when teeing low. Also helps me keep it in play more 

[me05501]

Low. Mini driver faces are hot below the midline because they're designed to be used off the deck. 

 

I push the tee down until my first and second fingers are trapped between the ground and the crown of the tee. So the ball is off the ground by about the thickness of my fingers. 

 

Such a low tee probably adds more spin than would be optimal for distance. That's part of what keeps the flight so straight. 

 

I don't hit my BRNR from the fairway but if it happens to be sitting up in the rough I'll give it a whack. 
 

[ZAS]

I don't have a mini but my first effort would be to line up the center of the ball to the mid-line of the face and adjust from there

[PitchPlease]

59 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Low. Mini driver faces are hot below the midline because they're designed to be used off the deck. 

 

I push the tee down until my first and second fingers are trapped between the ground and the crown of the tee. So the ball is off the ground by about the thickness of my fingers. 

 

Such a low tee probably adds more spin than would be optimal for distance. That's part of what keeps the flight so straight. 

 

I don't hit my BRNR from the fairway but if it happens to be sitting up in the rough I'll give it a whack. 
 

 

Newer to the mini driver, but this is where I ended up too. Teed down it spins more but it goes the exact distance I want (~260) and doesn't run out much. Still hitting a nice little draw even teed down and my dispersion is good.

[Sean124]

I tee it pretty low unless I’m trying to draw it. 

[Streuner]

With my Mini I have some kind of workability and so the tee hight variates from nearly low as a 3 Wood for a low fade to nearly driver hight for a high draw 

[PitchPlease]

11 hours ago, Streuner said:

With my Mini I have some kind of workability and so the tee hight variates from nearly low as a 3 Wood for a low fade to nearly driver hight for a high draw 

 

Which model do you have? I could see being able to tee the Elyte Mini a bit higher because it is bigger. With the R7 I would risk skying it if I teed it up that high. I've pretty much grooved a 1-2* down AoA swing and don't deviate from that, but that's more because of the nut behind the wheel.

[Streuner]

7 minutes ago, PitchPlease said:

 

Which model do you have? I could see being able to tee the Elyte Mini a bit higher because it is bigger. With the R7 I would risk skying it if I teed it up that high. I've pretty much grooved a 1-2* down AoA swing and don't deviate from that, but that's more because of the nut behind the wheel.

Sure, this a point to ask for. 
I use a AI Smoke Mini from last year. It took a while to get into. I am using the 13.5 Version and turned down to 12.5. my real driver is a AI Smoke Max in 9.0. the difference between this two is noticable in ballflight and targetory. 

[Pepperturbo]

On 7/17/2025 at 7:51 AM, bjh1 said:

Mini driver users - in terms of tee height and angle of attack, do you play it like a driver or like a fairway wood?

I’ve tried both and keep wavering back and forth.  

I don't use a mini driver.  IMO, Mini driver is not much different than my ole RL Zeidler Absolute 8*, 288cc driver head I played.  Tee height is in relation to the shot I hope to create.  Tee it slightly low for bullets and a bit higher to catch the wind trough.  

Edited July 23 by Pepperturbo

[Rosco1216]

Brnr mini 13.5* at 43”. Hit it off the ground for a very consistent low cut 280 run out or I tee it up up to 3/4” to hit a high draw that flies 300. It’s extremely versatile as a tee club.

Edited July 23 by Rosco1216

[JNewsted]

I like the midpoint of the ball on the crown.  Mini for me (r7) has been really variable for traj based on tee height.  Can hit it great like "fairway" but can hit super high if teed up.  I like it lower as I make better contact on all clubs if I'm force to come in a bit more neutral.